UPDATE: Montclair rescue unit back in operation after sitting out most of 2011 over funding issues

MONTCLAIR - The city's lone paramedic squad was only in service 51 out of 336 days last year, largely for budgetary reasons.

But the problem never comprised public safety or left the Fire Department without paramedic services, City Manager Edward Starr outlined in a special report to the council on Wednesday.

The report also showed the paramedic vehicle did not go out at all in July and August. The most days it was deployed in one month was this January, when it was in service 11 days.

Some on the council are not alarmed by those figures.

On Friday, Mayor Paul Eaton said he is not concerned about the issue adding, "nobody has contacted us about their concerns."

In addition, Councilwoman Carolyn Raft said she is out in public almost every day and never has heard a complaint about lack of public safety services.

"For each and every council member, safety is the No. 1 priority. If it was something that jeopardized the service residents were receiving then we would find another way to do it," she said.

In recent weeks, Councilman John Dutrey along with the president of the Montclair Firefighters Association had questioned how many days the vehicle was out of service in the fiscal year and whether it posed a threat to public safety.

The city adopted the practice that when two or more firefighters called in sick the paramedic vehicle would be out of service. To reduce overtime expenses, the rescue squad was parked, Starr has said.

Earlier in the week, Starr said that the new fiscal year, beginning today, afforded him the ability to start staffing the paramedic squad on a 24-hour period.

Starr's report also indicated that not using the vehicle was the result of several factors, including reducing overtime costs, the slumping economy and the loss of the city's redevelopment agency.

In the past year, firefighters used more than expected sick leave, vacation and holiday time, Starr has said.

"It's an excuse they are using to vilify us," said Chris Jackson, president of the Montclair Firefighters Association.

While the Montclair firefighters' base salary is 21 percent below the other departments in the region, Jackson said there some individuals in the department that have not had overtime in more than a year.

He maintains that not using the vehicle for the majority of 2011 was a threat to public safety.

"It's a reduction in fire services. "The issue we have isn't about overtime costs," he said. The desire to have the rescue squad filled at all times has to do with firefighters being able to save lives."

Responding to a major emergency requires the assistance of at least two paramedics; one who treats the victim while the other sets up the equipment.

Without the rescue squad, a fire truck has only one paramedic available to respond, he said.

"We are losing valuable time with that squad parked," Jackson said.

The city's answer to that - using mutual aid from other cities -- is not a viable option, he said. Not only do those neighboring cities have to be on board with the move, but there's no guarantee that other agencies won't be responding to their own emergencies when Montclair needs assistance.

One solution could be to fill the seven vacancies the department has, rather than filling the paramedic squad using overtime, Jackson said.

There are only 21 firefighters who are eligible for overtime and not the 29 employees who Starr has indicated, he said.

The dispute over the vehicle comes at a time when both agencies have yet to reach an agreement over the firefighters association's contract. For the past two years, negotiations have failed with the council, ultimately imposing a contract on the Fire Department.

"It's easy to say they want the funding. Where do they propose we get it?," Raft said. "A city is like a business, you have to run it like a business. What you've got coming is not enough to cover what you're spending."

If the city made the decision to the fund seven positions then it would have to cut services from another part of the city, Raft said.

She said she believes the recent discord is part of the driving factor to their issues with the city.

"They are upset because they are not getting what they want," she said.

City officials have asked association members to pay a higher contribution to their pension fund.

Jackson said he and the union did have an issue with the contribution rate in the past but have since accepted the fact that it is an industry-wide standard. He added that they are willing to pay that rate.

Eaton said the assumption that the City Council does not care about public safety because they did not question the activity of the paramedic squad is false.

Effective Sunday, Starr and the executive director of public safety, a new position which is being assumed by the police chief, will look at ways to reduce overtime costs and how the department is structured.

"The decision brings calm to the situation, pending an examination of alternative delivery system protocols for emergency medical services," Starr stated in the report.

Raft said it is her understanding that Police Chief Keith Jones will have an office at both fire and police stations.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In an earlier version of this story, Chris Jackson was misquoted when he was talking about the City Council. What he said was "the council sees us a necessary evil, but we are a required infrastructure service to the city "